What Is It Worth?
by Darkl26139
Summary: Angel is looking to save his soul but what price is he willing to pay? I edited the ending to make it clearer. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**What is it Worth to You?**

"She is not responding. Cast it again!" Xander orders. His fear is clear in his voice. His team has never seen this side of him, they all know how much she means to their leader but they have never seen him lose control this way. Still, he trained them well so they jump to fulfill his order. They grasp hands to aid in their casting. They pour as much of themselves as they dare into the spell. They are relived to hear Xander shout "She is stabilizing!" before the weakness creeping up their limbs overwhelms them and darkness greets them.

Angel stands before the glowing crystal unable to believe the site before him. He turns to the being existing next to him with his fists clenched in rage. He shouts "This is not part of our bargain!!" Angel cannot see a smile on the being for the ever shifting darkness that comprises it's form has no face but he knows it is there. He was a fool to try this. He should have known better.

The being's replies simply "You said you would sacrifice anything you had."

"In me! I am prepared to trade anything I have. Not another! (in a lower sadder voice) Never her. You are violating our agreement." Angel screams back with his fist clenched in rage.

The darkness roils with anger "How dare you question me! We both know she holds the largest part of your heart. It is not our fault you were not more careful. Our business is completed!"

The flash and shockwave that highlights the being's departure are of the same Hollywood dream special effects that all these "higher" beings seem to like but are wasted on Angel. All the effects do is remind him what ego maniacs these being are. He should not have provoked it. It is its job to twist any bargain. Angel knows he should have been more careful. Now, another woman he loves is going to die because of him. Pulling his despair on along with his long black coat, he makes his way out of the temple. He ignores the smell of his own flesh burning in the morning sunlight while he rushes to his car and jumps in. He will find a way to save her. She won't die because of him. The smell of burnt rubber mingles with the lingering burned flesh smell leaving behind a most horrible stench all too fitting for this dark temple.

Back at headquarters everyone is one edge waiting for the helicopter transporting Buffy to arrive. Before the rotors have even stopped moving, a team has off loaded Buffy's stretcher. They race her to the medical section where the finest doctors, mages, and shamans wait to treat her.

Xander paces nervously outside desperate for any news. Two slayers stand guard on the door to keep him from disturbing the medical staff one more time. Logically, he knows his presence in the room would only hamper the medical staff's efforts but his heart and soul scream he should be at his friend's side.

An eternity later, the doctor in charge, Dr. Thomas Mayne, comes out to speak with Xander. He explains that something is draining Buffy's life-force. Nothing they know has managed to stop whatever dark magic is harming her. They have managed to stabilizer her but at a high cost. Several members of the medical staff sacrificed part of their life force to buy time. Even with all the slayers and staff, this will only buy a few days.

Willow focused her will on the circle before her. Sweat pours down her brow as the power tries to rage out her control but her will proves stronger. She shapes the energy into a lid to seal the breach in the fabric of reality. This is one Hellmouth that won't be causing anymore trouble. Finally able to rest, she crawls into her hotel bed and quickly falls asleep.

She jolts awake as pain suddenly races through her. It takes her a moment to realize the pain is not hers. It is coming from someone close to her. Focusing, she tries to figure out who. "Buffy!" she shouts to an empty room as she drags herself out of bed. After jamming everything she brought with her into her suitcase, she tries to open a portal home. She almost fails; a clear sign of her exhaustion.

She steps through into Slayer headquarters just outside the infirmary. There she surprises a worried Xander. "What happened?" she demands.

"We don't know. We were running a pretty basic opt. Slightly larger than normal vamp nest but still no big deal. Suddenly, Buffy went down. No one saw her take a hit. I ordered Amanda to pull Buffy out of combat zone. I figured she got hit by a rock or something and was knocked out. When Amanda brought her up, her heart wasn't beating. Thanks to the quick work of our trauma team, she was revived but never regained consciousness. I ordered the mission scrubbed and made a bee line back for base. Dr. Mayne believes something is draining Buffy's life-force. We are keeping her going using "donations" from the rest of the slayers and staff but this will only buy us a few days." explains Xander.

"Let me see what I can learn." Willow announces as enters the medbay. She forces the sway out of her step and shapes her will into the spell she needs. Sitting cross legged on the floor, she projects her essence into the astral plane. There she traces the line of power bleeding out of Buffy to its source. She is stunned to see the trail leads her to Angel. Buffy's life-force is draining into him and then going somewhere else. She wants to try to follow this new line of power but her body has long past its limits. She can no longer ignore the pull of her body. As she settles back into her body she tries to wake so she can tell Xander what she learned but cannot. Sleep will not be held off any longer.

Xander watches Willow hoping she will be able to find the answer. He is concerned when he notices Willow stir but not wake. The shaman on duty assures him, she is fine and just resting. He explains that Astral travel is very taxing and she will probably sleep for several hours but he promises to alert Xander if anything changes with either of his friends. He politely suggests it would be a good time for Xander to rest as well.

Angel has managed to cross the world in only two days. He races into the slayer headquarters only to by met by a very angry Willow. "I am sorry. It's not what I wanted." he blurts out.

She doesn't care. Buffy has worsened over the last few days as the drain on her has increased. Donations are barely keeping her alive and have laid up over half the slayers. "I am sorry too." she says as she thrusts her arm into his chest. She grabs his soul and rips it free.

Angel screams as Angelus awakens. He only has a moment to orient himself before slayers grab his arms. He sees that annoying witch Willow standing before him. He sees tears on her face. "What is the matter lov? Don't worry I am back to play with you." he sneers.

"It didn't work" she replies while holding a small glowing ball of energy which he recognizes as his soul. She forms a sword out of fire which she drives deep into him.

Pain engulfs Angelus as the blade touches him. Even in his long life, he has never experienced pain such as this and he has been tortured by some real sadistic beings. "What did (grunts) you do to me?" he growls through the pain.

She doesn't answer. She just keeps moving the sword around within him. Her face is grim.

He never thought the little witch had this in her. Torture just didn't seem her thing. I guess it is always the quiet ones he laughs to himself. As he fights for his sanity, he finds something new within him. It is a line of power. It is disgustingly pure but strong. Desperate enough to risk the goodness, he grabs the line and pulls on it. Much to his surprise, he is pulled out of his body. He finds himself in a bed with breasts?

Willow is thrown backward as power flares in Angelus. Before she can recover her sight, he collapses with only the slayers holding him up right. She is relieved to see that the line of power coming from Buffy has been severed. However, she is confused that she senses no sign of the demon Angelus. She hopes he was destroyed by that surge of power at the end. She debates for a moment before she decides to risk returning Angel's soul to his now empty body. When she puts the soul back, she feels something is different. Something is missing but she can't figure it out.

Angel draws a deep breathe as he returns to his body. He drops to his hands and knees as the slayers release him. He gulps great amounts of air as his lung struggle to remember how to work. He feels his heart pound in his chest. He tastes blood in his mouth. He looks up at a stunned Willow and can't smell her blood or even her scent. He struggles to stand as everyone around him steps back clearly unsure of what to make of this.

"Angel?" Willow asks tentatively. She swears she sees his chest rising and falling like he was breathing. He is clearly freaking out so she slowly and gently touches her hand to his throat. She yanks her hand back as she feels a pulse.

"I am alive?" he stammers with a voice full of wonder. He stares at his hands, turning them over and back again in wonder. "I am ALIVE!" he shouts as he wraps Willow in a crushing embrace. "Thank you, thank you." he babbles.

Wrapped in his arms, Willow waves the slayers about to kill him for grabbing her off. She gently separates from Angel and looks into his eyes. "I don't know what happened. I am not sure if it will last. You see Buffy" she is explaining when Angel interrupts her.

"Buffy. Oh Buffy. Is she ok? I was trying to protect my soul by making a deal. It went wrong because the being tricked me. I told it could have whatever part of my heart it wanted as payment. Based on my research, I thought it would steal my emotions or my memories. I didn't expect it to literally drain Buffy. I was such a fool. I am lost Will. After LA, I am lost. I just wanted to find myself again. I don't know what I was thinking." he babbles on.

"I broke the connection so she should be fine." she says while not looking at him. She still feels guilty about torturing anyone even Angelus. She tries even harder to ignore the part of her that liked it. "Let's go check on her in the infirmary" she suggests. She signals for the slayer guards to stay here but they shake their heads in unison. Xander made it crystal clear to them they were to stay with Angel at all times.

Looking around Angelus realizes that where ever he is, everyone knows something is off as there are several exhausted looking slayers circling the bed he is in. None hold weapons though and this new body feels so powerful. He leaps out of bed and enjoys watching them scatter. They are blocking the door but Angelus is not in a hurry to leave just yet. He wishes vampire's cast a reflection as it would be useful to know what this body looks like. The parts he has seen seem familiar. He stalks around the room keeping the slayers on edge while he tries to think of his next move. He could just rush through them but without knowing where he is or what time of day it is, that would likely gain him little. Better to get a better feel of this situation before acting. Clearly, this body belongs to someone they care for otherwise they would have just staked him and been done with it. He is missing something.

"Buffy!" Willow shouts in horror as they walk into thee infirmary to find several slayers blocking the door to Buffy's room and Buffy with her features contorted into a vampire state.

Angelus sees the look on the witch's face and the look on his old body's face. He laughs long and hard as he realizes where he now resides.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

"This is all my fault." Angel moans but he gets no words of sympathy as everyone in the room agrees with him.

"Fault, doesn't matter. How do we fix this?" Giles states as he knows Willow and Xander are letting their anger cloud their judgment. Buffy is as safe as she can be locked in a cell. As much as Angelus rages, he won't be able to get out.

"I don't know. I don't even know what happened in the first place." Willow mutters. Her frustration and worry clear on her tense features as she paces.

Xander wishes he were more of the research guy but he knows he is leader guy so he does what he is supposed to and takes charge. "Angel quit moping, Willow get it together, Giles keep doing the watcher thing. Buffy needs our help so we need a plan. First order of business as I see it: get Buffy's soul then we can rip Angelus out and put her back. Sounds easy enough. Ok people get it in gear. Come on hop to it."

Everyone is surprised by Xander's tone. They all still remember high school Xander. They are even more surprised when the find themselves listening. They all share a look before replying "Yes sir." Willow adds a fake salute to her reply which almost brings a smile to Xander's face but he resists so he doesn't ruin his new leader image.

Giles heads off to India to acquire another of the orb things needed for the soul spell. Since he took a slayer team, Xander imagines the price was still being negotiated. Willow and Angel went to the temple of the being Angel tried to bargain with to see what they could learn there. By using a portal, they were there in minutes and should be back by tonight. Unfortunately, that leaves Xander with not much to do but worry about his friend being turned into a vampire.

He is watching on a monitor as one of the slayer guards slides a packet of blood under the bars of Angel's cage. He dislikes the idea of feeding him while he is in Buffy but Xander knows a hungry Angelus is more trouble than a feed one. Turns out his concerns were sound as Angelus leaps across the cage catching the arm of the girl sliding the blood into the cage. He pulls her close to the bars and wraps his other hand around the girl's throat. She is a slayer but weakened by donating to Buffy and pinned against the bars she can't break Angelus grip. _Xander is so going to lecture me._ she thinks.

Xander calmly walks into the holding area as Angelus demands "Let me free or I rip her throat out." The other slayers are unsure of what to do and Xander doesn't blame them. Most are just teenagers who don't want to watch their friend die. There is too much death in their world as it is. Xander has been around a bit more so he raises the stun gun in his hand and zaps them both. Angelus loses his grip on the girl as they both fall twitching to the ground. Just for good measure, Xander zaps Angelus for a minute longer. "You aren't going anywhere." he tells him before walking back out.

By nightfall, Angel and Willow have returned. Unfortunately, they don't have good news. Not even Willow could force the being to speak with them and its temple didn't hold anything useful. Willow hasn't given up hope and dove into research mode hoping to find something.

When Giles checks in, he has good news: the orb has been obtained and they are on their way back. Due to the orbs magical nature, Willow can't just portal them back but Giles is pushing as hard as he can to get back quickly.

In his cell, Angelus paces anxiously. This new body ripples with power. He never dreamed that slayers possessed this much power. It may only be Buffy that is this powerful as she has always been unique. He has study his cell closely enough to know he won't be breaking out of it. That leaves waiting for them to make another mistake. Something this new body is not good at. He vents some of his frustration by punching the ancient stone walls and banging on the cell bars. He delights in the slayers' reactions to his misbehaving. They are clearly freaked out to see the great Buffy Summers as a vampire. He thinks it brings another aspect of their mortality all too close to home. He decides to taunt them a little "Come close little ones. Let me taste you. I can smell your fear, you know. The life of slayer is short but my life is eternal. Join me and avoid your death."

They don't reply but their eyes tell him he hit home. He smiles showing his elongated teeth before returning to his pacing. He is now confident he will get his chance to escape. He just has to wait for it.

"Found something." Willow joyfully announces. "There is a ritual which will restore a person turned into a vampire." she explains as she proudly shows Giles the book she is reading from.

"Willow, this ritual restores the body but doesn't bring the person back to life." Giles sadly informs her.

"Exactly, but we don't need to restore Buffy to life since she never died. Normally, you have to die to become a vampire but that is not what happened in Buffy's case. We just need to get Angelus out and put Buffy's soul back." Willow says with growing confidence.

"It might work" Giles reasons following her logic. "but it is risky. Buffy may not be restored." he points out.

"Either way we need to get Angelus out which is what this spell will do, right? Worse case we put Buffy in suspended animation till we find a permanent solution. Sounds like a good plan to me. What do you need to get started?" Xander states.

"The best time for the ritual is a full moon which is next week. That will give me plenty of time to gather the items we don't have in house." Willow says.

"Great." Xander replies.

Angel just sits brooding through the whole conversation. He has been zero help in solving this. With adjusting to being alive again and all his guilt, his head has not been in the game. He needs to snap out of it. Buffy needs him.

After everyone else has left, Willow makes her way over to Angel. She places her hand on his shoulder and waits for him to look up at her. "She will be ok. We can fix this." she promises him.

"You shouldn't have to." he replies before getting up and storming out of the library. He runs to a nearby balcony no longer afraid that it is daylight. There he tries to let the sun's warmth calm him but it doesn't help.

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't hear come up behind him. Without his enhanced vampire senses, he probably wouldn't have heard anyway. It is not till two young strong arms slide their way up his back and then around his neck does he notice her. She turns him towards her and kisses him full on the lips. He savors the new sensation that accompany being alive. As a vampire, he couldn't truly appreciate the warmth of her lips or the slightly berry flavor of them. Their kiss deepens as each expresses what is in their hearts but hidden by their lives.

When they finally beak apart, she pulls his head to her shoulder and rubs his hair. "Don't worry. I will make everything better." she says as her face distorts and she bites deeply into his neck.

Angel awakens screaming "Noooo!" and drenched in sweat. His door explodes open as the slayers on guard duty rush into the room. They pause sensing no threat. One even admires his nearly naked form.

"Nightmare." he explains and waves them out of the room. As they leave the one who checked him out, smiles and winks. Angel finds his heart beating faster and blood rushing from the beautiful young woman's attention. Being alive is very distracting. His body has so many needs and urges. _Being a vampire was much simpler._

Strapped to a table, Angelus struggles against his bonds as the slayers carrying him bring him onto the castle's roof. They lock his table into a stand which resembles some sort of Alter. Druid if Angelus guess is correct.

"You don't have to tie me up to have play you know." he taunts them. One punches him hard in the gut while no one else is looking. He thinks this one likes having him in this body. He thinks this slayer would like to take care of two problems by killing this body. One more thing for him to work with.

Willow and Giles start the spell while Angel and Xander watch. Energy flows around Buffy's prone form as the spell starts to take shape. Angelus fights harder against his restrains sensing his danger. He feels one restrain start to pull free of the table so he focuses on it. His new body's strength is incredible.

The sound of wood splintering alerts Angel that Angelus is about to break free. He darts forward into the spell's area of effect and grabs Buffy's now free arm. It takes all his strength and body weight to restrain her but he manages. He hangs on fiercely as Angelus struggles against him.

"Angel, get clear. I am not sure what will happen if you are in the area effect." Willow shouts to him as sweat pours down her face showing the effort this spell is costing her. It is taking everything Giles has to just keep his part going. He isn't aware of anything but the spell.

"Just finish it." Angel shouts back as a calm comes over him.

The serine look in his eyes actually strikes free into Angelus' cold heart. "No. I won't go back in my cage!" he shouts. Summoning his dark will he throws Angel off. He then rips the other restrains free and leaps to his feet. He lunges for Willow but Angel is there to block him. Angelus laughs at his weak old body as he lifts it high into the air. "Not this time, hero." he tells Angel coldly as he throws him across the roof.

Once Angel is thrown clear, Willow unleashes the full force of the spell. It engulfs Buffy/Angelus and they scream. The sound is one of primal fury and pain but quickly fades as Buffy's body falls back onto the table like a puppet with its strings cut. Willow pulls out the orb containing Buffy's soul and finishes her spell by releasing Buffy soul back to her body.

Buffy wakes with a cry. Bolting upright she finds herself wearing the remains of leg and arm restrains and on the castle roof with her friends looking at her strangely.

"Buffy?" Willow asks tentatively.

"Will, what is going on? Is my hair a mess?" Buffy quips back hoping to lighten the clearly intense mood on the roof.

"Buffy!" her friends shouts as they pig pile on her. So happy to have their friend back, they don't notice that Angel hasn't gotten up from where he landed. Buffy is the first to see him.

"Angel!" she shouts and rushes to his side. She is confused to see his chest rise and fall in an uneven, ragged rhythm and terrified to see all the blood pooling beneath him. She lifts him onto her lap to hold him and get a look at his wound. A piece of wood is driven deep into his chest right about where his heart is.

Looking down at the wood jutting from his chest, he says with a weak laugh "Ironic, isn't it."

"Oh Angel. What happened?" Buffy says as tears start to fall while she strokes his hair and face lovingly.

"It doesn't matter. You are ok. That is what is important. I love you." he says as blood leaks from his lips. He gingerly touches her face willing all he should have said into that one touch.

They have both seen enough death to know his is coming. She looks to Will for some small hope but Will sadly shakes her head and then turns her face into Xander's chest for comfort. Giles staggers over to Buffy and puts his arm on her shoulder looking down on her in his fatherly way making it clear he wishes he could take her pain away.

Buffy looks back at Angel but his eyes are already growing lifeless. "I love you too." she whispers hoping enough of him is still there to hear her. A faint smile forms on his lips letting her know he did. She leans forward and kisses him goodbye.

"You are worthy." the thing in the temple says to Angel as he finds himself once more in front of it. Before he can figure out if the last few days were real or just a test, a tendril of darkness ripples towards him and engulfs him. Angel screams long and loud before the tendril is done with him. It drops him to the temple floor as the thing returns to where it came from. Alone in the dark, Angel takes his first real breath in centuries. Finally, he can be the man she deserves.


End file.
